Red-tape Busting Apprenticeship Scheme Welcomed
Training provider JTL welcomes the government’s plans, announced this week, to cut the red tape associated with apprenticeships, but urges that a commitment to ease the salary burden of new recruits is also crucial.
Skills Secretary, John Denham, has launched a ‘bureaucracy busting’ challenge to remove the excess paperwork and simplify the processes and systems associated with apprentices, which often deter companies from employing them.
In a statement issued by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) this week, John Denham said: “There is no reason why firms should have to deal with multiple copies of time-consuming paperwork, provide the same information to several different agencies, be expected to invoice government more often than is necessary, or have to undergo complex inspection requirements when they already have perfectly adequate systems of their own.
“The practical measures we have agreed will enable more employers to meet their present and future skills needs, unimpeded by time-consuming administration. The challenge from some of Britain’s leading employers, based on their own actions to get rid of red tape and bureaucracy is the perfect base on which we will build.”
Responding to the Skills Secretary’s challenge, Dennis Hird, JTL’s Chief Executive, said: “JTL welcomes the move to reduce the administrative burden associated with apprenticeships. It is our firmly held belief that apprenticeships benefit both the UK economy and the individual businesses who train. A simplified process will help encourage more employers to recruit apprentices and JTL fully supports the move. However, we also believe a commitment to wage subsidy is needed to ease the costs to employers.”
“Though the cost of training an apprentice is free, with full funding by the Learning and Skills Council, employers are still responsible for their apprentices’ salaries and other associated costs. Easing the burden of these costs with the release of a wage subsidy programme will go some way to encouraging more employers to recruit apprentices. This is particularly important in areas such as London where the demand for skilled labour is likely to increase with the ongoing development on projects such as the Olympics.”
The government’s statement also outlined that the ‘bureaucracy busting’ plan will be published over the summer and will seek further input from employers and awarding bodies. The plan follows on from the Apprenticeship Bill announced in July 2008.
As the main provider of apprenticeships to the building services engineering sector, JTL continues to watch the government’s announcements on apprenticeships with interest and applauds attempts to make vocational training a viable career pathway for the country’s future business leaders.